"Prepare ye the way of the Lord" The first and second Advent in prophecy

1. Prepare ye the way of the LORD
Mark 1:2
2) As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy
way before thee.
Isa 40:3
3) The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God.
Mal 3:1
1) Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare
the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the
covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith
the LORD of hosts.
The speaker is “the LORD,” so the “my” and the “me” are
referring to Jehovah.
But notice that there are two “Lords” in the verse. There is
“LORD” and “Lord,” so the Jehovah’sWitnesses try to use the
passage to prove that Jesus Christ is a lesser deity (Zech. 12:10).
Zech 12:10

2. 10) And I will pour upon the house of David, and
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications: and they shall look upon me
whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for
him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in
bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn.
This destroys the Jehovah’sWitness doctrine that Jesus
Christ is a “created God” who is not Jehovah. Look at the
wording.
“And I....” Who’s that? The speaker in Zech 12:1, 4 was
“the LORD”:
“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the
LORD” (Zech. 12:1);
“In that day, saith the LORD” (Zech. 12:4).
The Jehovah’sWitness will tell you that L-O-R-D is Jehovah
and L-o-r-d is Jesus, a separate God. Two gods, just like
you will find it in John 1:18 in an NASV: (1)“begotten God”
and (1)“unbegotten God.”
John 1:18 New American Standard Bible
(NASB)
18
No one has seen God at any time; the
only begotten God who is in the bosom of
the Father, He has explained Him.

3. John 1:18 KJV
No man hath seen God at any time; the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he
hath declared him.
The reading of John 1:18 in the New American Standard
Version is a Jehovah’sWitness reading.
So, the “I” of Zech 12:10 is “the LORD” (see vss. 8, 7, 5, 4,
1).
The Jehovah’sWitness New World Translationwill
translate that as “Jehovah” every time it shows up. But at
the end of the verse see what “Jehovah” says: “and they
shall look upon ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED.” That’s
Jesus Christ!
Rev 1:5-7
5) And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and
the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him
that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood,
6) And hath made us kings and priests unto God
and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Amen.
7) Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye
shall see him, and they also which pierced him:

4. and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of
him. Even so, Amen.
Zechariah 12:10 says that Jehovahgot holes in Him from
being pierced. It clearly identifies the Jehovahof the Old
Testament as the Jesus Christ of the New Testament.
When the J.W.s saw Zechariah 12:10, they went into a
panic and changed it to read “they shall look upon THE
ONE whom they have pierced” so you wouldn’t make the
connection.
Zechariah 12:10 [NWT] …and they will look to the one
whom they pierced, and they will wail over him as
they would wail over an only son; and they will grieve
bitterly over him as they would grieve over a firstborn
son.
The Apostle Thomas saw where Christ had been pierced by
the nailsand the spear, he said, “My Lord and my God”
(John 20:28).
The Apostle John made the connection.After recording
the words of Jesus as “that they might know thee [i.e., the
Father—Jehovah,John17:1] THE ONLY TRUE GOD” (John
17:3), he wrote, “that we may know him that is true, and
we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ,
THIS IS THE TRUE GOD” (1 John 5:20).

5. If L-O-R-D is Jehovah,then what do you make of this: “And
he hath on his venture and on histhigh a name written,
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:16)?
According to the J.W.s, that verse is saying that Jesus
Christ is JEHOVAH OF JEHOVAHS!
Zechariah 12:10— “And I will pour upon the house of
David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit
of grace and of supplications.”
The cross-reference is Joel 2:28–29, the passage Peter
preached at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–18)— “And it shall come
to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all
flesh....” What “flesh”? Gentile “flesh”? The Body of
Christ? No— “YOUR sons and YOUR daughters shall
prophecy, YOUR old men shall dream dreams, YOUR young
men shall see visions.”
To whom is Joel writing? He’s writing to JEWS, not Gentile
Christiansin the Body of Christ. To whom is Peter
preaching in Acts 2? “Men of Judea” (Acts 2:14), “all ye
that dwell at Jerusalem” (Acts 2:14), “Ye men of Israel”
(Acts 2:22), “the house of Israel” (Acts 2:36). There’s not a
Gentile Christian in the lot. All three passages—Zechariah
12:10; Joel 2:28–29; and Acts 2:16–18—are addressed to
Jews at the Second Advent.
“...and they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced....”

6. The Romans were the ones who did the piercing:they
were the ones who whippedHim, put the crown of thorns
on His head, nailedHim to the cross, and shoved the spear
in His side. Outside of slappingHim before Annasand
Caiaphas,the Jews never touched Him. But you see, the
Jews were guilty by proxy.
There is a sense in which the Jews were guilty of the death
of Christ. Sarah told Abraham when she couldn’thave
children;“I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I
may obtain children BY HER” (Gen. 16:2). That’sa child by
proxy: the slave is bearing the child for the mistress.
Rachel and Leah did the same thing with Jacob.
(2 Sam. 3:30) “So Joab and Abishaihis brother slew
Abner”. In the account of the murder in 2 Samuel 3:26–27,
Abishaiwasn’t anywhere around when Joab killedAbner,
but Abishaiknew about it and consented to it. That’s
called an “accessory to the fact” in modern law. That’s
why Saul was guilty of the death of Stephen even though
he never picked up a rock to throw at him (Acts 9:1).
When it comes to the death of Christ, those Jews are
guilty because they were the ones who turned Him over
to the Romans to have Him killed,they were the ones
shouting “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” when Pilate wanted
to let Him go, they were the ones who chose Barabbas
over Jesus to be released. The Romans wouldn’t have
done anything to Jesus if it hadn’tbeen for the Jews.

7. Peter says the Jews crucified Him (Acts 2:36); he says they
“killedthe Prince of life” (Acts 3:15). Stephen said they
were “the betrayers and murderers” of Christ (Acts 7:52).
Paul says they killed Him (1 Thess. 2:15). How? By being
the ones to set up the whole thing.
Guilt does not end with the Jews and the Romans it was
OUR sins that put Christ on the cross.
“Christ died for OUR SINS according to the scriptures” (1
Cor. 15:3).
“Who his own self bare OUR SINS in his own body on the
tree” (1 Pet. 2:24).
“For Christ also hath once suffered FOR SINS, the just for
THE UNJUST” (1 Pet. 1:18).
You and I are just as guilty of the death of Christ as any
Jew or Roman.
No Jew or Roman could take Christ’s life from Him if He
hadn’t let him. Jesus said, “Therefore doth my Father love,
me, because I lay down my life...NO MAN TAKETH IT
FROM ME, but I lay it down OF MYSELF” (John 10:17–18).
Zechariah 12:10— “...and they shall mourn for him, as
one mourneth for his only son....” There’s the two natures
of Christ right in the same verse. There’s Jehovah God
saying, “they shall look upon ME,” and there’s that Jew
looking at Christ returning as “the Son of man” (Matt.
26:64).

8. Matt 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said:
nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the
Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven.
Zechariah 12:10— “...and shall be in bitterness for him, as
one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Christ is called
“the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29), “the
firstborn of every creature” (Col. 1:15), and “the firstborn
from the dead” (Col. 1:18).
Zechariah 12:10— containsboth Advents of Christ.
When Mark quotesthe verse in Mark 1:2, he divides it as neatly
as Jesus did when He read Isaiah 61:1–2 (Luke 4:17–21).
Note the two “messengers” in the passage. The first
“messenger” is John the Baptist at the First Advent (Mark 1:1–
4), and the second “messenger” is Jesus Christ at the Second
Advent (Hag. 2:9).
In regard to these two messengers, there are two interesting
occurrences Malachi2:7 and Haggai 1:13.
“For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should
seek the law at his mouth: for he is the MESSENGER of the
LORD of hosts” (Mal. 2:7).
There’s a Levite who “is the messenger of the LORD of hosts,”
just like the “my messenger” of Malachi3:1.

9. John the Baptist was the son of a priest from the tribe of Levi
(Luke 1).
“Then spake Haggai the LORD’S MESSENGER in the LORD’S
message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the
LORD” (Hag. 1:13).
Haggai is called “the LORD’S messenger,” but look at what
shows up in the context: “I am with you, saith the LORD.”
That’s “Emmanuel,” “God with us” (Matt. 1:23); it’s a reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Malachi3:1— “I will send MY messenger [that is, the
“messenger” of “the LORD”—Jehovah],and he shall prepare
the way before ME [“the LORD”—Jehovah].”
So, when John the Baptist showed up, he was to be the
forerunner of Jehovah.But look at how Mark changes the
wording when he quotes the verse.
“As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I will send my
messenger [the messenger of Jehovahin Mal. 3:1] before THY
face, which shall prepare thy way before THEE” (Mark 1:2).
Mark changes the “me” (Jehovah) of Malachi3:1 to “thee.”
Well, who’s the “thee”? It’s “Jesus Christ, the Son of God”
(Mark 1:1).
Malachi3:1 is a Messianic prophecy, showing the Jews that
when their Messiah showed up, He would be God in the flesh
(you find the same kind of thing in Mic. 5:2; Hab. 1:12).

10. Every corrupt modern translationon the market changes Mark
1:2, attacking the integrity of Scripture as well as the Deity of
Christ. The new “Bibles” change “prophets” (plural—KJV)to
“prophet,” (with a cf. to Isa 40:3 being Isaiah) but Isaiah is only
the source of Mark 1:3 (Isa. 40:3). Being much more accurate
and honest than the ASV, RSV, NIV, ESV, etc., the King James
lets you know that two authorsare being cited in Mark 1:2–3.
Next, the modern versions help the Jehovah’sWitnesses in
Mark 1:2 by getting rid of “before thee” so you won’t connect
Jesus Christ to the Jehovahof the Old Testament.